The price and appearance are the first few things that most homeowners would look at when buying a door for their house. However, if you want to maintain the look and reduce the maintenance cost in the future, selecting between hollow or solid core doors is important.
Doors are essential investments to increase your house’s security and comfort. Purchasing a door because it looks aesthetic or costs less is never a wise thing to do. It is better to check the door’s features and specifications that will match your preference. In this article, we will compare hollow and solid core doors so you can have a better idea of which type of door is best for your house.
What Is a Hollow-core Door?
Hollow core doors are made of flat fiberboard or laminated wood without a thick and solid core interior. Although hollow core doors are said to be hollow on the inside, they are not fully empty. To retain structural integrity, these doors contain a honeycomb cardboard interior that is wrapped in veneer or fiberboard. The majority of homes have hollow doors to save money on construction.
How To Reduce Noise on Hollow-core Doors?
If you already installed hollow core doors inside your house, you don’t need to replace them all at once just to improve some features. Here are the things you can do to increase the soundproofing capabilities of your door.
- Weather Stripping: You can put weather strips around the door contour to close the air gaps. These strips are self-adhesive and thin, so you can fit them on areas where the door meets the casing. Weather strips usually cost around $10.
- Door Sweep: Most hollow core doors have big gaps on the upper and lower parts. The gaps allow more air and noise to transfer between rooms. The door sweep costs around $20, and it can be a cheap solution to your noise problems.
What Is a Solid-core Door?
These doors contain synthetic wood and an engineered wooden core that is wrapped with a wood veneer and fine wood. Doors with solid interior structures are ideal to use for interior and exterior passageways and as internal garage doors. You can invest in a more secure solid core door, but keep in mind that you may be paying more for aesthetics than functionality.
To give you more ideas on why people chose doors with thicker interior structures, here are the pros of having one in your establishment:
What Is the Difference Between Solid-core and Hollow-core Doors?
The amount of material used and the interior structure are the key differences between solid and hollow core doors. A veneer is attached to a hardwood frame in a hollow core door while in solid core doors, the interior component fills in the gaps with more wood, making it stronger, heavier, and has better noise reduction capabilities.
Privacy and Security
Both doors give enough privacy. But with a stronger design and more thickness, a solid core door has better security and privacy than a hollow core door. If a door with a hollow core is kicked in, the door will likely fracture. In contrast, solid core doors can withstand a great amount of force.
Sound Insulation
Hollow core doors are not a great sound barrier, unlike those with a solid interior. Doors with denser inner components can muffle sound more effectively.
Durability and Maintenance
When a hollow core door is damaged, it is best to replace it right away because repairing it will cost you a lot of money anyway. They are more prone to damage by severe humidity, thus they may have to be replaced more frequently. While doors with thick interior materials can last longer because of their durability and require less maintenance than hollow core doors.
Cost
Hollow-core doors are cheaper than solid-core ones. These doors typically cost around $75 while solid core doors usually cost $150 for a basic type.
Hollow-core Vs. Solid-core Doors: Which One Is Better?
Hollow core doors are economical options if you have a small budget for your house that requires three or more doors to be installed, and noise reduction is not a big deal for your family. However, for better functionality and durability, investing in solid core doors will increase your security and provide better noise reduction.
That concludes our comparison between hollow and solid core doors. Basically, solid-core doors are better, but they are more expensive than hollow-core doors. Investing in these doors might initially cost more but you are less likely to face any problems in the future.
